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The UK's only independent think tank devoted to higher education.

Blog

The HEPI Blog aims to make brief, incisive contributions to the higher education policy landscape. It is circulated to our subscribers and published online. We welcome guest submissions, which should follow our Instructions for Blog Authors. Submissions should be sent to our Blog Editor, Josh Freeman, at [email protected].

  • ‘Forward, Together’ or ‘More of the Same’?

    19 May 2017 by Nick Hillman

    The official title of the Tory manifesto is, perhaps surprisingly, not ‘Strong and Stable’ but ‘Forward, Together’. Given that the Conservatives have been in office, in coalition or on their own, for seven years already, one could be forgiven for thinking it might have been ‘More of the Same’. There…

  • Why do academics keep getting election predictions wrong?

    15 May 2017 by Simon Goldsworthy

    This guest blog has been kindly provided by Simon Goldsworthy, Professor of Public Relations and Advertising and Head of Department of Communication & Media (Communication, Public Relations, Journalism & Film Studies), Richmond University, Kensington Campus. Shortly before the referendum on the UK’s place in the EU, the Political Studies Association (PSA) polled…

  • Scrapping tuition fees or scraping away the glue holding the sector together?

    11 May 2017 by Dr Diana Beech

    Yesterday, footage emerged of John McDonnell, the Shadow Chancellor, announcing that Labour will scrap tuition fees if the party wins the General Election on 8 June. Speaking in Mansfield two weeks ago, the Shadow Chancellor can be seen to introduce the idea of a national education service, which is ‘free…

  • The future of UK higher education: What should the manifestoes say?

    10 May 2017

    I am speaking this morning alongside Jo Johnson, the Minister for Universities and Science, at a Portland Communications event on the future of UK higher education. Here are my remarks. Thank you for inviting me. We don’t have long so I want to get straight into the swing of it. But, first, I must…

  • What we learnt at the HEPI Policy Briefing Day

    28 April 2017

    HEPI’s new Director of Policy and Advocacy, Dr Diana Beech, provides a summary of our annual Policy Briefing Day. If ever there was a good day to hold a conference on higher education policy developments, it was yesterday – the day the Higher Education and Research Bill (HER Bill) achieved Royal Assent.…

  • It’s good to talk: bursaries, fees and everything else?

    26 April 2017 by Nick Hillman

    This morning, Labour have announced a commitment to bring back bursaries and abolish tuition fees for some NHS staff. This is smart campaigning because it is part of a wider strategy to focus on the NHS, and it simultaneously shines a spotlight on the current big fall in the number…

  • Working with the media…

    30 March 2017 by Nick Hillman

    Our new paper by Richard Garner, available on the Publications page, is chock full of anecdotes illustrating his arguments about the best ways for higher education institutions to engage with the media. Here are three of the best. Social media Gone, hopefully, are the days I encountered while working as Education…